Sourdough Pani Popo (Coconut buns) - a very interesting baking method

I saw this pani popo recipe a while ago: http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2011/01/pani-popococonut-buns.html . What's interesting is the way the buns are baked: instead of adding coconut milk "IN" the dough, it's poured into the pan right before baking, so essentially the buns are baked "IN" coconut milk instead. I changed the formula to use my white starter, but kept the rest the same.

4. rise at room temp (78F) for about 6 hours. they should be almost fully proofed, i.e. barely spring back when pressed.

5. Mix together coconut milk and sugar, pour into pan, bake at 375F for 30min.

Exceedingly soft and fluffy due to intensive kneading and proper fermentation

The coconut milk at the bottom became thick gooey sweet sauce during baking, adding great flavor to the enriched soft buns. My batch was only slightly tangy, but that might just be my starter. Next time I might try adding coconut milk and shredded coconut filling in the buns as well to maximize the coconut flavor, however, they were delicious and quickly gone as is.

Comments

Beautiful and yummy looking bread, as usual, txfarmer!....and very interesting method as you said. I'll bake this for my daughter before she leaves for uni this autumn. This is exactly the kind of bread she'd love.

btw, the link in the procedure No.1 ('this post') seems to be hyperlinked to a wrong place...namely this thread....;)

Oh, I remember seeing these lovely buns..I have cans of coconut milk in my cupboard and was so tempted to bake them but, I'm limiting my sweets, so didn't get around to this one. I love your version, very nicely done, with the SD conversion, txfarmer! What is the biggest influence you use to determine your percentage of levain to use, when you are converting a formula? I'm thinking maybe how active your starter is ? Lot's of questions, today ....:) my conversion chart says 2 cups of flour is equal to 220gms. Your formula calls for a total of 250gms...close, but just wondering is '250g' gms. what you use for 2 cups of flour? Maybe, just your hydration adjustment...just some things I was wondering... Thanks, txfarmer for your advice :)

A cup of flour can be anywhere from 120 to 150 (110 is lower than anything I have seen though) grams, depending on how the author measures. I usually go for 125 grams, then adjust hydration to what I like, in this case, 2 cups of flour == 250g.

The levain ratio was determined by trial and error. I have made a lot of these SD soft breads, and I have a schedule that's the most convenient for me (cold retarding in fridge to split the work into 2 days, etc), and this ratio has been working well for me, so I stick to that. You certainly can adjust that if your starter is a lot slower/faster, and/or you prefer a shorter/longer rise.

Your flour measurement sounds much better than my conversion charts..when I use the old scoop and scrape method..I get a cup at around 128gms. would be lighter if I spooned in the flour and then scrape leveled..it just goes to show you how much 'feel' counts :) when mixing up a batch of dough!

In southwest Germany, where I come from, there is a similar method, using milk and sugar (no coconut palm trees in the Black Forest). The milk/sugar mix is poured into a large pot, the buns are added, and then cooked with closed lid on the stove.

It's called Dampfnudeln (In other parts of Germany they do it with water).

The caramelized milk at the bottom was always something to look forward to.

I always love to learn about unique breads in different parts of the world, so what you said about Dampfnudeln is really interesting, I wonder whether this coconut version has any relation with the German version...

I was going to use the can of coconut milk in my cupboard to make chocolate ice cream for the kids.....now I am having to rethink my plans as breads are always more fun for me to play around with and this looks like a very interesting combination - especially with the sourdough. ( I have finally learned how to convert formulas from IY to SD. Fun to do and it has REALLY broadened my horizons!)

yes, but that doesn't seem like a lot to me for a sweet bun. Although I've never used coconut milk in cooking, does it vary in sweetness? I just bought some creamed coconut because I got so excited about your recipe I wanted to try it. It's the type you mix with water before use. I tried some and it's not very sweet.

I'm just genuinely curious because I tend to use at least a quarter less sugar in any sweets recipe I do, I found that most recipes prescribe much more sugar than really necessary. Yours seems to be the opposite. The average cake of that volume would use some 100 g sugar if not more. Do they come out really sweet, or more like with a sweet touch? Does the coconut souce soak them through, or mostly stay at the bottom?

Also (sorry if it sounds like a travesty to you) do you think one could add other nuts, e.g. ground or flaked almond to these buns? What about raisins? Cinnamon?

All original site content copyright 2016 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Content posted by community members is their own. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. This site is powered by Drupal and Mollom.